Need I say anymore than it was bloody marvellous! With twelve and more racers in tow and Adrian from Red Racer there with a huge box of goodies, what more could an aspiring Graceville champion want?................................ Well, talent for a start!
Graceville is NOT for the feint hearted and the new addition to the ‘car park’ has added an extra dimension to slotcar racing. I have to admit that I owe the little talent I have left to the tortuous and twisty four story mega complex known as Graceville. One minute you are racing at metres below sea level, then there are the gratuitous wiggly bits, reminiscent of dodging llama skulls in the Atacama desert on the fifth stage of the Dakar!, to the oxygen starved heights of the Mexican plateau, and all within the confines of a little wooden shack in downtown Brisbane!
Exaggeration? Well maybe just a little, but I’m right when I say it’s not for the feint hearted! This track will see you loose visual contact for several seconds at a time with only the marshalls knowing if you are still running or not. But the best buzz is the bash down the back straight, Awesome. With the scene set, all that was necessary was to get a few slotcar racers with hearts of neodymium to come pit their skills against each other………and against the track!
First up was BTCC or Pommie tin tops as they are affectionately known. This class is usually made up from Renault Lagunas, Ford Mondeos, Alfa 155’s and Opel Vectras, with a smattering of SCX SRS2 Peugeots and Volvos. A good class with their fridge magnets and all to prove. At an average lap time of 35 seconds and eleven laps to do, it was never going to be easy.
Heat one saw young Andrew fight off stiff competition from Moby to take line honours while Sean and Peter had their own axes to grind. Heat two highlights were Peter H lapping in phenomenal times but failing to keep the car on! Noel showed us all how it should be done as his guide dog lead the way at an astonishing 64 second fastest lap! Last heat saw Paul looking to be faster than he really was, but in the end he managed to come in front of Ken and Peter Smith
Race 1 BTCC Heat 1 1. Andrew Best lap 36.23 2. Moby 37.18 3. Peter 38.23 4. Sean 37.21 Heat 2 1. Phil 32.89 2. Michael 36.97 3. Peter H 30.93 4. Noel 64.01 Heat 3. 1. Paul 37.07 2. Peter Smith 40.29 3. Ken 38.80 4. Kym 42.82Next up, with the masses swelling, was Nascar. Mmmmmmm? What would this regurgitate? Some new SCX models in the fray and some old faithfuls doing their bit, plus a few Scaleys to round things off. First up where the three Peter’s and Paul! Peter H settled in to a rhythmic race (20 laps!) and the other two Peters lapped almost identical times. Heat two saw me take on a very swift SCX car with my old 99. and for the sake of a couple of well placed deslots, Sean drove himself into second place. Next heat, young Andrew showed that he had inherited his dad’s skills and was plastering the opposition with hot laps. Leaving him to breeze in, in front of Ken. Last heat saw organiser Julian show he still had it, and wasn’t just a pretty marshall?????
Nascars 20 laps 1. Peter H 24.95 2. Peter S 29.42 3. Peter J 29.70 4. Paul 19.7 Heat 2 1. Phil 22.60 2. Sean 21.21 3. Kym 30.18 4. Michael 25.23 Heat 3. 1. Andrew 26.59 2. Ken 26.76 3. Adrian 28.20 4. Noel 33.84 Heat 4 1. Julian 27.26 2. Moby 27.89 3. Peter S 29.51 4. Michael 28.71Next up! Caterhams / Lotus 7’s and don’t touch me braids!
This was the most testing of the evening and just to get a hot lap was an achievement. I don’t think there was anyone who did a clear round, and cars disappeared without trace at several places around the track Best choice was a brightly coloured car and a set of MJK’s! Three laps seemed like an eternity but the eternity was soon over!
Caterhams / Lotus 7’s 3 laps 1. Phil 31.02 2. Sean 33.41 3. Peter H 35.33 4. Kym 39.07 Heat 2. 1. Peter 36.48 2. Michael 40.85 3. Adrian 45.39 4. Peter S 59.53 Heat 3 1. Ken 32.53 2. Andrew 37.60 3. Moby 37.10 4. Noel 61.04Last fixed class was A1GP’s. These are a quick class and it was fully expected to have some sub twenty second laps but it wasn’t to be, and heats were not that much quicker than the NASCAR class?? But if anything they were more evenly spread out. Most of us managed the fifteen laps with ease and models were finishing in quick succession for most of the races.
A1GP 15 laps 1. Phil 21.04 2. Ken 22.89 3. Adrian 22.95 4. Michael 27.61 Heat 2. 1. Moby 23.14 2. Peter S 24.00 3. Sean 27.32 4. Andrew 29.44 Heat 3 1. Moby 22.17 2. Peter 23.93 3. Noel 24.50 4. Julian 23.37Last up was the SEQSCC special event, the one lap dash!!. Four Ninco raid cars were placed on the track and racers cycled across the lanes, with a point going to first man home and everyone else was last. Normally this event only lasts until we have cycled through the group, but this one seemed to go on, and on, and on?? I finally realized Marks plan was to tire me out and get some one else in the top bracket . As it happened, Moby eventually drew level at four races each, but alas, in the drive off he went to pieces and I spent half the lap waiting for him, just to make it a spectator event. After all, we have to consider the sponsors!!
So, that was it. Another great evening of extreme slotcar racing. Enough to harden the resolve of every racer, to come back and try it again, yet, to climb (metaphorically) the north face of the Gracevillhorn!
The SEQSCC meets regularly on the first Monday of each month. If you would like a taste of the ultimate slotcar talent test, PM me this board or email me for directions.
